Spanish Civil War: Causes and Consequences (1936-1939)
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
Causes of the Spanish Civil War
Among the general causes, the rivalry between the two Spains stands out: a traditionalist one and an innovative one. For the right, the war was seen as a crusade against communism; for the left, it was the people’s resistance against fascism. For Azaña, then president of the Republic, it was a collective hallucination in which heroism and atrocities, intolerance and fanaticism, hatred and fear coexisted.
- The Rise of Totalitarian Ideologies in Europe: Spanish fascist groups formed the ideological support for the nationalist side.
- The Threat of a Marxist Revolution: This was used as propaganda by the far-right to justify the coup. They alluded to a Soviet plot.
- The Role of the Republic: Radicalized positions on the right and left, and prepared the coup of July 1936.
- The Trigger of the Civil War: The murder of José Calvo Sotelo (July 13th). On July 12th, Falangist gunmen assassinated Lieutenant José Castillo, a socialist, in Madrid. His fellow officers responded the next day, July 13th, by kidnapping and murdering José Calvo Sotelo, leader of the National Bloc (a far-right party). Although the uprising was already decided, this was a political gift for the right, who presented it as further evidence of lawlessness and anarchy, against which they advocated the need for a savior. On the afternoon of July 17th, the nationalist uprising started in Morocco and the next day spread throughout the peninsula.
Consequences of the Civil War
The civil war had very serious consequences from a demographic, political, economic, and cultural point of view. Demographic losses amounted to almost one million, although only about 300,000 died in the battlefields. To these, we must add about 200,000 murdered. Franco’s firing squads and executions directly linked to the war also extended for around a decade. During the early years of Franco’s rule, there were over 300,000 prisoners; many died from poor imprisonment conditions, including the poet Miguel Hernández.
To the deaths, we must add the decline in the birth rate. The losses resulting from exile were relevant not only quantitatively but mostly qualitatively. Many people fled Spain temporarily or permanently, largely due to fear of cruel repression under Franco. The phenomenon of exile was devastating to Spanish cultural life, as many writers, artists, professors, scientists, and professionals left the country. In addition to those shot, we must consider the prisoners in Franco’s concentration camps, those sentenced to forced labor on pharaonic works, and those who remained hidden in attics, basements, and even trunks, known as “topos.”
Countless economic losses were produced. To the decline in the active population, we must add the shipment to the USSR of over 500 tons of gold from the Bank of Spain, the costs of war, and the destruction of private and public buildings, railway networks, and roads. The forties were years of hunger. The economic resources and destruction of infrastructure during the war are very difficult to calculate. Livestock had been reduced by 60% and agricultural production by 25%. On the other hand, the Treasury was ruined and without financial reserves.
Franco remained in power for nearly 40 years, one of the most extensive periods of authoritarian rule in the modern history of Western Europe. Spain was completely removed from the path of democratic orientation that European countries would follow after the Second World War and was disabled for a long time to develop a standardized foreign policy. Its aspirations to join the European Community and other organizations and international forums were not fulfilled in the short term.